Apple CEO Tim Cook visited India over the past week and had a meeting with Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, discussing Apple’s involvement with this country in the future. Apple wants to tap into the valuable talent pool in the country and perhaps even approach manufacturing in the region.

Firms like Xiaomi and Foxconn have also expressed interest in making devices in India over the past months, so Apple’s approach is logical. Cook and Modi discussed cyber security and data encryption as well. The Prime Minister detailed his Digital India initiative and objectives for the future, like e-education, health and increasing the farmers’ incomes.

Apple will have to support such initiatives, if it wants to really enter the minds and hearts of the people. Apple is setting up a Map Development Centre in Hyderabad and Tim Cook praised the local app development talent. I wouldn’t go as far as to predict that Apple will open up factories in India or that its partners will, but it could happen in the future. Nice to see the Cupertino firm opening up to other countries aside from China.